check engine light - HELP

My check engine light has been on for a few weeks - 1998 Chevy Prizm. Went to my local Autozone and I had the free diagnostic and wrote down the codes.

PO441 and PO446

Autozone first suggested a gas cap. Bought one for $7 but it has been a 2 weeks. So I went back and got the codes.

PO441 - Evap. Emissions purge fault

and PO446 - emissions control error

Went to the repair shop / inspection sticker shop and paid $65 for them to tell me they can't do the job - have to take it to a chevy dealer. It's an emissions cannister problem is what they told me. Won't be going there anymore.

Car seems to be running fine without problems. I really don't want to take it to the dealer... I got a feeling they will rake me throught the coals.

does any one have any advice?

whirlibird,
sounds like you may not have too many choices. If your inspection shop gave you details about exactly what needs to be cleaned/replaced perhaps you can do it yourself after buying a Haynes manual. (and buying the parts at the dealer) Otherwise, the Chevy or Toyota dealer can probably do the work quickly and the repair cost might not be too bad - maybe $250 or so? Continuing to drive it may cause more problems not right away, but down the road that'll be kinda costly. Good luck, check the search function on this model and maybe some other popular models about that error code and learn about how easy/hard it is to do it yourself?

I had those exact same errors. PO441 and PO446 along with a fuel smell in my trunk. I took my 1999 Chevy Prism (3 speed automatic) to a GM dealer.

At first GM replaced the EVAP purge solenoid for $180. Now a couple of months later they say the Engine Computer aka PCM (power train control module) aka Elec Cont Module (ECM) needs to be replaced for $1300!! Ouch.

After doing some digging there was this TBS (trade service bulletin) stating that 1999 Prism’s built early on the assembly line had a problem with the engine computer. Looking on the driver side door post I noticed my 1999 was actually built in August of 1998. I was surprised to see it wasn’t even built in 1999. Unlike a real computer they could not patch it and wanted to replace the whole thing for $1300. I didn’t do it and to this day I have those stupid error codes. I just go and get them checked out now and then to make sure a new error code hasn’t appeared. If anyone has another solution to this problem please let me know.

The moral of the story is when you get a new/used vehicle make sure its assembled as late as possible for the given year. When they roll out a new car they constantly make hidden updates and tweaks over the year. I hope this helps.

Update:
For a possible quick and easy fix you can replace your PCV valvue. ITs costs under $5 too.

I'll guarentee you that there is no fix [cheep]for these flags on the Prizm, and GM knows it. And no it's not the gas cap or the purge solenoid. My theory is that the Canister gets ruined [flooded] when these pump jockeys overfill your tank to get to the nearest whole dollar. The Canister is located at the same level as the tank. And I'd be asking for a refund on the purge solenoid too.

It's a pain in the ass when inspection time rolls around.

I've had the same problem codes for over a year now on my 99 prizm and the car still runs fine.

Please post if anyone finds a good fix.

I've been going through this forum a lot today and it turns out this (posted under a variety of different names) is pretty common. When I had this problem I found out that it could just be because gas got into the evap system (instead of just fumes). I let mine go and would reset the "check engine light" every time it went on. (www.scangauge.com is a good toy/tool that'll reset codes) To much gas in the tank was the cause I found in my research. So I stopped topping off at the pump and after a while the system got better.

I have a 98 chevy prizm LSi and i also went to Auto-zone and got the samn codes. i proceeded to go to Firestone for a more definitive answer, but they told me i needed a $100 smoke test on my engine to find the problem. I ended up going to a small shop in Buffalo where they ran the diagnostic for free. my evap emissions control canister is pretty much shot and i need a replacement valve for the canister as well.
the peice isnt really necessary for the car to run, it will reduce your gas mileage by a few miles per gallon.
but here was the shocker. to get it replaced, i need to obtain the part from a chevy dealer-ok- but the part alone is 485$$!! plus installation which my small shop in buffalo agreed to do for 85$.
my problem now is i have inspection due next month. ive had this problem on and off for 2 years now but for the last 7 months the check engine light will not turn off.
i dont want to drop over 500$$ on an 11 yr old car.
any quick fixes??

check that the small black plastic vacumn line is not cracked or out of the connector on the evap can or on the throttle body. mine had the smell of of gas fumes when i would park it. i got to looking around and the 1/8" black vacumn hose was broke .spliced it back together and smell went away.

I've also had this problem, for around 4-5 years. I also researched this at the time and found that it's from either a defective EVAP solonoid or a damaged canister from topping off when fueling. I just clear the 0441 and 0446 codes before the smog check and I'm good to go. I too looked into the replacement cost of the charcoal canister and found it was around 400-500 bucks!-no way was I doing that!

I had the same problems, mine was the evap emissions control canister. My repairman bought an new one from a Toyota dealer (it was over a $100 cheaper than one from a Chevy dealer!). I was told the problem was from over filling, the thing rotted out.